Joel Osteen Podcast - This Is Your Year! | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

You can’t experience breakthrough if you expect the same things year after year. God is a God of increase. This is going to a year of His favor! Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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See terms and conditions at UNES. See you. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you today. It's always a joy to come into your homes.

We love you and we know God has great things in store. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in. And thanks again for coming out today. I like to start with something funny each week. And I heard about this man. He was in a dark restaurant.

He said to the lady sitting next to him, would you like to hear a blonde joke? She said, well, before you tell me, you should know that I'm blonde, six feet tall, and a professional bodybuilder. And the lady next to me is blonde, six foot two, and a professional wrestler. And the lady next to her is blonde, six foot five,

and the kickboxing champion of the world. Now, do you still want to tell me the joke? He thought about it a minute and said, no, not if I'm going to have to explain it three times. All right. I am married to a beautiful, intelligent blonde. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible.

I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess. my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same in Jesus' name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about how 2011 is going to be your year. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and go into another year coasting on autopilot, expecting the same thing,

same problems, same struggles, same income, same level of joy. No, God is a God of increase. He wants us to rise higher. Sometimes you need faith spoken over you to ignite what's on the inside. And what I sense in my spirit is that 2011 is going to be an exceptional year. A year where you see promises come to pass. A year where you accomplish your dreams. It's going to be a year of surprises where God amazes you with His goodness. And a year where you overcome obstacles.

You see breakthroughs in areas where you've struggled a long time. Seemed like you just couldn't get ahead. No, you need to get ready. This is the year things are going to change. God is about to release his favor in a greater way. You've sown the seeds, you've planted, you've watered, you've been faithful. Now you're about to come in to harvest. This is going to be a due season year where you reap from the seeds you've been sowing.

My encouragement is, get ready. expect God's favor, believe for increase, let go of little dreams, little goals, little plans. This is going to be an above and beyond year. Now, I know some of you have been in great difficulties, but I can sense that a shift is taking place. The winds that have been blowing against us, trying to hold us back, those winds are changing directions. Instead of blowing against you, they're going to blow for you. Instead of holding you back, they're going to start propelling you forward. Now, I'm not just talking today.

I'm prophesying. I'm speaking victory into your future. These declarations are not just to make us feel good. They are words of life that have creative power from the Most High God. That's why when you hear this, something ignites on the inside. Something bears witness with your spirit. It's because you were born to rise higher. You were created to live a victorious, abundant life.

Now, you've got to rise up and say, yes, this is for me. 2011 is going to be my year. I'm stepping into a new season. I'm letting go of what didn't work out. I'm putting on a new attitude, enlarging my vision. I'm going to go into this year with a new fire, with a greater expectancy. I'm going to step into my now season. See, God's favor is based on two things.

Number one, obedience. Doing what we know we should do. Obey in God's Word. And number two, it's based on timing. When it's your season, you can't just sit back. You've got to step into it. I read about a baby locust. It's called a hopper. Its wings are very small proportionate to its body. And at first it can't fly, but it can jump 200 times its height. The way it learns how to fly is when it hears the winds blow. When it sees the treetops rustling, something in the hoppers natural instincts tells it,

this is my time to jump. When it jumps, it spreads out its wings, even though they're small. They catch the wind, and that's how it learns how to fly. But timing is critical. It has to know when to jump, has to be sensitive and recognize when the winds are blowing. And too often we miss God's best because we don't recognize it's our season. For the last few years, for some people, it's been a great struggle. They've been through difficulties, setbacks, they've made mistakes.

Now the problem is they can't hear the winds blowing. They just look at their circumstances and they think, I'll never get off the ground. I'll never accomplish my goals. I don't have the wingspan that I need. I don't have the talent. I don't have the education. I've made too many mistakes. What they don't realize is if they would jump at the right time,

when it's their season, they would catch those winds that would take them higher than they thought possible. The scripture puts it this way. It's not by our might nor by our power, but it's by the spirit of the living God. One translation says it's by the breath of Almighty God. When you know God's breathing in your direction and you dare take that leap of faith and say, yes, this is my time, yes, I'm going to accomplish my dreams.

That's when you'll feel a wind beneath your wings, a supernatural lift, an anointing that will help you accomplish what you could not accomplish on your own. I look up now and think, how did I get to where I am? My wingspan is not this big. I don't have this much natural ability. You know what this is? God breathing in my direction. When I sensed it was my season, I dared to take that leap of faith, and I caught those thermal winds that have taken me places I've never dreamed of.

What I'm saying today is the wind is blowing. This is your season. This is your time to jump. This is your time to believe again. That means you've got to let go of what didn't work out last year. This is a new year. Quit focusing on what you don't have and start focusing on what God does have. He has all power.

He controls the universe. He can open doors that no man can shut. He can bring talent out of you that you didn't know you had. Don't miss your season. Don't go into another year expecting more of the same. Making excuses as to why you're not growing. Feeling sorry for yourself because you had bad breaks. Stuck in a rut, coasting when you know you really should be stretching your faith.

David said, I have pitched my tent in the land of hope. Let me ask you, where have you pitched your tent? Some of you need to pack up your belongings and move out of self-pity estates. Move out of the nothing good ever happens to me subdivision. Move out of mediocreville, can't do it,ville, reach my limitsville. So pack up your belongings. Come over into the land of more than enough. The land of far and beyond favor.

the land of with God, all things are possible. I can already sense dreams are coming back to light. I can sense a new fire is being birthed on the inside. Friends, what's in front of you is much greater than what's behind you. The victories you've had in your past are going to pale in comparison to the victories God has in your future. 1 Corinthians 2.9, Paul said, no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, No mind has ever imagined the things God has in store for those that love the Lord. God is saying you haven't seen anything yet.

You think you're blessed. You think God's been good to you. No, God has things in your future that if he told you right now, it would boggle your mind. You wouldn't even believe. If you would have told me 12 years ago when I was working behind the scenes doing the television production at my parents' church, that one day I would be a minister in front of many people and we would have our services

in the former compact center where I used to watch the Rockets play basketball I would have said you've totally lost your mind you need to go get checked out I could not even fathom that that's the kind of things God has in your future one translation says

God has amazing things that he keeps ready for those that love him I like that God keeps ready blessings, favor, promotion, healing, wisdom. He's just waiting to release it to you. We have a couple in our church.

A while back, they had babies, triplets, when these babies were born, they were very premature and they had to stay in the hospital for a long, long time. This couple had insurance, but for some reason it didn't cover the total cost. One day, they got a hospital bill for $2 million.

It looked like they would be paying on that debt. the rest of their life. The winds were definitely blowing against them. The good news is God knows how to change the wins. This couple didn't get defeated and depressed and start complaining. They stayed in faith. One day around Christmas, the hospital called them. The man in charge said, we've never done this before, but our board has just voted and we've decided to forgive that two million dollar death. What happened? The winds shifted. One day. One day. One, day, they were in debt over their head. Looked like they'd be there forever. 24 hours later, they were totally debt free. That's one of those no I has seen, heard, or imagined blessings.

Some of you think that your situation could never turn around. But you don't know, by this time tomorrow, you could be out of debt. By this time tomorrow, you could meet the person of your dreams. By this time tomorrow, that child could come back home. God has blessed. And, God has blessed. He's kept ready for you. My question is, are you ready? Are you expecting God's favor? Do you believe that 2011 is going to be your year? In the book of Deuteronomy, it talks about how if we will keep God first place,

His blessings will chase us down and overtake us. One definition of the word overtake means to catch by surprise. Now, I believe in the coming year, you're about to see. see God surprise you with his goodness. Unexpectedly, out of the blue, you're going to come into unusual favor. I know a young man, he's a student from another country and he attends our services and he was having a problem with his visa. When he went to enroll for the next year of school, they told him that he could not finish because of this problem. He had already done his undergraduate work. Now he was working on his master's degree. He was devastated. He looked like

his dream had died. He did everything he could, called everyone he knew, but nothing seemed to help. He decided to go back and check with the school one last time. This time, there was a different lady at the admissions office. They got to talk and they found out that they both attend Lakewood. Let me tell you, that's dangerous. When you hook up with a Lakewood person, you might as well get ready. You're going to get blessed. She looked at his files and she said, I see the problem, let me see what I can do. She went away for about a half hour and came back with a big smile. She said, we found a way to enroll you and we'll give you this letter that'll fix your visa problem. He was so happy, had three more years of college left. But this lady wasn't finished. She said,

I have a fund where I'm allowed to help students and I've just gotten permission to award you a full scholarship for your last three years. Now he's going to finish it, no charge. Friends, God is a God of surprises. You may not see how it could work out. In the natural, it may look impossible, but don't ever rule out the God of surprises. One good break, one phone call, meeting one right person, and everything will change. I don't know about you, but I've got my tent pitched in the land of hope. I feel an excitement in my spirit.

God has things in our future that we've never. never even imagined. Some of you are planning ordinary. God's planning extraordinary. You're thinking, let me just survive this year. God's saying, I want you to thrive. Now, you've got to get your expectancy up. In the scripture, David is called a man after God's own heart.

He's one of the great heroes of faith. What kind of attitude did he have? How did he go around each day? He said in Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. Notice that word surely. He was saying, there's no doubt about it. I am fully confident about what's following me, goodness, mercy, favor.

David's attitude in effect was something good is going to happen to me. This is going to be my year. I know God's going to surprise me. No wonder David lived a victorious life. No wonder he overcame his obstacles. He knew good things were chasing him down. Some of you, if you would just change what you were expecting, you would see your life go to a new level.

You're going to draw in what you constantly think about. You know what's chasing you down right now? Not defeat, trouble, sickness, lack, bad breaks. No, no. You're a child of the most high God. You've been crowned with favor. When you look in your rear view mirror, you better get ready. You got a tailgator.

Something coming at you at a high rate of speed. You know what it is? Blessings, favor, promotion, wisdom, health. God has good things in store for each one of us. Well, you say, Joe, you're just getting people's hopes up. You're right. I want you to get your hopes up. You can't have faith if you don't first have hope.

The day you quit being excited about your future is the day you quit living. and too many people are going around breathing, but they're not really alive. They're existing, not really living. They died at 45. We didn't bury them until they were 85. What happened? They quit dreaming.

They quit believing. They quit expecting. I'm trying to bring some people back to life today. I'm asking you to stir up your dreams. Stir up the gifts God's put on the inside. Let me tell you, you have not seen your best days yet. You have not reached your limits. You

may have been through some bad breaks, had some disappointments, but you would not be alive unless God had another victory in your future. Everything you've been through up to now is to get you prepared for this day. Don't sit around

in self-pity, defeated, worried, get your fire back. You have seeds of greatness on the inside. You have something incredible to offer this world. Those dreams may have been pushed down by people treating you wrong, by

mistakes you've made, by failure or rejection, but you know what? The dream is still alive. I'm fanning that flame right now. You've got to do your part and let go of what didn't work out in the past and go into this new year with a greater vision, with a greater

expectancy, excited about your future. I read a story about this lady. She was losing her house. She'd gotten laid off and she couldn't afford the payments and unfortunately her home went into foreclosure. The bank took it over and was going to auction it off. This lady had already accepted the fact that this chapter in her life was through. She was doing her best to deal with it.

Down deep, she was heartbroken. She was a single parent mom. This is where she had raised her children. Just to get some kind of closure, she decided to go to the auction where the bank was selling off homes including her home. When she saw her home up there on the docket to be auctioned off, she couldn't help but to weep

and weep. A lady across the room saw that she was upset and came over and asked her what was wrong and she explained how she was losing her home. This lady asked which home it was and she pointed it out. When her home came up to be auctioned off, this lady, her new friend, she started bidding on it and bidding and bidding.

She ended up winning the bid and now she owned her home. She turned to the lady and said, I came here to buy my son a home, but I know now God sent me here to buy your home and to give it back to you. She handed her the papers right there. You don't know what God has in your future.

You don't know the surprises God has in store. It may look like it's over, but the good news is God always has the final say. It's not over until God says it's over. Some of you have been standing on promises for a long time, many years hoping, praying, believing that a situation would turn around. What I sense in my spirit is this is going to be the year you see those promises come to pass. Now, you've got to do your part and release your faith for this year. Not someday.

Not yes, Joel, I know in the sweet by and by it's going to happen. No, come into the now season. this year is going to be a breakthrough year. Get that down in your spirit. That child you've been praying about, it's not going to be another 20 years, it's going to be this year. That business, that career that's been stuck,

this is the year is going to take off. That addiction you've been struggling with, it's not permanent. It's not going to be there forever. No, this is the year. It's going to go. Will you let this seed take root? This year, God's promises are going to come to pass.

Well, you say, Joel, I can't just make it happen. No, but when you believe, when you release your faith, that's what activates God's power. You know, the lady in the scripture, she had been sick for 12 years. She fought through the crowd and she touched Jesus. And immediately she was well. Jesus turned to her and said, daughter, your faith has made you whole. Notice God didn't instigate the healing. The lady did.

When you believe, when you release your faith, when you go into the year with a greater expectancy, your faith can do the same thing. Get up every morning and say, Father, thank you that this year I'll break this addiction. Thank you that this year I'll meet the person of my dreams. Thank you that this year

I'll see my health turn around. God wants to do something great in your life, not 20 years from now, but this year. And I've learned one of the enemy's favorite lies is the situation is never going to change. It's been

long, you're too old, it's permanent. How many times have we all heard, I'll never get well. I'll never get out of debt. I'll never meet the right person. Don't believe the never lies. Don't believe those thoughts that are telling you, if it was going to happen, surely it would have happened by now. If God was going to turn it around, you've asked him so many times, surely he would have done it by now.

No, stand against the lies that are telling you it's permanent. it's never going to change. No, listen, it may not have happened in the past, but what I'm saying is it can happen this year. God is still on the throne. He still wants to bring that to pass. It's interesting in the scripture many times when Jesus prayed for people,

he would ask them how long they had been that way. He said to the man at the pool of Bethesda, how long have you been laying here? The man said, 38 years. He asked a woman that was all been over, how long have you been sick? She said 18 years. These parents brought their grown son to Jesus, who was blind. Jesus said, how long's your son been this way? They said since his birth. Why was Jesus so interested in the length of time? Why didn't he just pray for him, heal him, and move on? It's because

he wanted to show us how nothing is ever permanent. He wanted it to be forever recorded so we would always know that it's never too late. Even if it's been 38 years, that's okay. This can be your year. Don't write it all. Don't give up. Just keep believing. God is saying to us,

I can still bring it to pass. I can still turn the marriage around. I can still bring the right person into your life. I can still cause that property to sell. Don't stop believing. It's not over until God says it's over. I met a 94-year-old

woman in our lobbies after service a few years ago. She had just gotten married to a younger man. He was 88. I told her you should be ashamed of yourself. This lady was a breath of fresh air. She looked

30 years younger than she was. She radiated joy and peace and victory. She had a great sense of humor. Her mind was still so sharp. She had lost her first husband 33 years ago. She always had a desire to get remarried.

She said, Joel, I almost gave up. But God came through at 94 years old. She was wearing this real bright, colorful dress. As I was about to leave, I gave her a hug and said, you know what? I believe when I'm 94, I'm going to look just like you. She smiled and said, just don't wear the dress. Friends, this is your year to see promises come to pass.

Stir your faith up. God is still on the throne. He's going to surprise you. with his goodness. One time in the scripture, there had been a drought in the land for three and a half years. It was very difficult on the people. They had to struggle to get water and their food and supplies. One day the prophet Elijah said to Ahab, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. When Elijah said this, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was just as clear and hot and dry as it had always been. no sign of any rain.

Yet Elijah sensed in his spirit that something was coming. He sensed that rain was on the way. He was bold enough to announce it. I like the way he did. He said in 1st Kings 18, Ahab, go enjoy a good

meal. I hear a mighty rainstorm coming. Some of you feel like you've been in drought for a long time. But just like with Elijah, you know what I hear in my spirit? The sound of abundance. I hear the sound of things changing in your favor. I hear the sound of relationships being restored. The sound of breakthroughs in health, in finances. My message today is very simple.

Go enjoy a good meal. 2011 is going to be an awesome year. A year where you see promises come to pass. A year of no I has seen, heard, or imagined blessings. A year where things have shifted in your Frives, friends, God's going to surprise you this year. It may get darker in the world, but that's okay. For you and I, God's people, it's going to get brighter and brighter. Elijah gave Ahab the message. It was up to Ahab as to what he wanted to do with it. He could have said, I don't believe this, Elijah.

There's not a cloud in the sky. In other words, Joel, I don't think I'm going to have a good year. There's no sign of it. Business is slow. My health medical report doesn't look good. child's still acting up. Ahab could have looked at it in the natural and said, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Elijah doesn't know what he's talking about. No, Ahab dared to believe. He put actions behind his faith. The next verse says, he went out and prepared a great feast. Don't you know, that took a lot of nerve to prepare a feast in the midst of the drought? Other people complaining, negative, depressed, bitter.

Here's Ahab over here, celebrating. This is what faith is all about. You can't wait to see it. Then you're going to believe. You have to believe and then you'll see it. I'm asking you to do like Ahab. Get your hopes up. Start celebrating what God is about to do. In other words, start acting like 2011 is your year, talking like it's your year, walking like it's your year, dressing like it's your year, thinking like it's your year. Don't make excuses. Don't come up with all the reasons why this is not for you, be a believer and not a doubter. Get up every morning and announce it by faith. Father, I want to thank you that this year is my year. Thank you that this

year you're going to surprise me. Lord, thank you that I'm going to see promises come to pass. Lord, thank you that things are shifting in my favor. If you do that, like the woman that reached out and touched Jesus, your faith will activate God's power in a greater way. You won't have an average, mediocre, get-by year, but you'll have a year of abundance. Abundance of joy, abundance in your health, abundance in finances, I believe and declare it's going to be an exceptional year for you and your family, in Jesus' name. If you receive it, can you give the Lord one more shout of praise today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus.

I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you, my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He'll take you places that you've never dreamed of.

Thank you for listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope with those all over the world. Visit joelosteen.com slash give hope to give a gift today. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you next time.